There are now enough different types of powered personal watercraft, you might not want to commit to buying just one. Well, that's where the Propel kit comes in, as it combines five different aquatic electric rigs in one modular package.
Manufactured by US startup Propel Foil, the kit is currently the subject of an Indiegogo campaign.
At the heart of the setup is the aluminum/EPP-foam-bodied Modular Universal Chassis. It incorporates the 50.4V/50-Ah Samsung lithium-ion battery, a ~10-kW electric thrust-vectoring jet-drive motor, and the waterproof control system.
That chassis gets inserted into the included reinforced-PVC dropstitch Navigator board body, which then gets inflated around it. Next, a set of adjustable-angle handlebars, along with an attached wireless remote, get mounted on top of the deck. The result is called the E-Scooter, which is essentially a powered, handlebarred stand-up paddleboard (SUP).
If you want a riding experience that's more like surfing, you just remove the handlebars, and hold the remote in one hand. Presto, you're now riding the E-SUP.
Reinstall the handlebar on top, add an included foiling mast (with its own motor) to the underside, and you've got yourself the E-Scooter With eFoil. As was the case with the E-Scooter/E-SUP configurations, the handlebar can be left off if you don't need the added balance and control, leaving you with the straight-up eFoil.
Finally, you can pull the chassis out of the Navigator board, slide it into the included Jet Kart inflatable hull, and end up with …. well yeah, with the Jet Kart. It's essentially a little electric jet boat, complete with its own padded seat.
Top speed sits at 25 mph (40 km/h) for the two eFoil configurations, but goes down to a more sedate 12 mph (19 km/h) for all the others. Battery life is a claimed three hours per 2-hour charge when eFoiling, or 30 to 60 minutes in the less hydrodynamic E-Scooter, E-SUP and Jet Kart configs.
The designer, ex-pro snowboarder and foiling enthusiast Jason Toth, states that no tools are required for making any of the transformations, which take no longer than five minutes each. When the kit isn't in use, all of its components pack down into two travel bags.
Assuming the Propel system reaches production, a pledge of US$4,797 will get you a complete setup of your own. The planned retail price is $7,995. You can see the various configurations in action, in the video below.
Source: Indiegogo
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